Etched In Black Ink
by MysticShadowWanderer
Summary: [Sequel to The Devil's Workshop] "It will also teach him to kill." "What if that's what he was meant to do?"
1. To Begin Again

**Etched In Black Ink**  
_Sequel to The Devil's Workshop  
_MysticShadowWanderer  
  
Disclaimer: Don't sue. You'll get nothing, anyhow. I don't even have a job.  
  
A/N: w00t! Here it is, the much-anticipated (or at least not entirely forgotten) sequel to The Devil's Workshop. Please excuse any typographical errors, as I have had some brandy ice thing, and my head's not entirely on straight, and I know I'm not going to want to go back later and fix what I missed. Enjoy!

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Chapter One: To Begin Again

* * *

"Don't let your son do that!"  
  
"My son?"  
  
"He's yours when he acts like that, do something about it!"  
  
"What's so wrong that he's doing?"  
  
Kaoru threw up her hands in exasperation; the man would never change. But at least he was at home now, and safe, relatively. As for his son, the child seemed, at times, hopeless. With a sigh, she hauled herself up from her seat on the porch and started across the yard to stop Kenji, who was hiding behind the slightly-opened gate, throwing stones at anyone who happened to pass by. Ignoring the squeak that he let out when she grabbed him by the arm, she fairly dragged him back toward the house.   
  
"Momma, don't!" he pleaded. "I'll be good, I promise!"  
  
Kaoru gave him a withering glance, as if she hadn't heard that charade too many times to count. Kenji tried to further coax her with his best possible puppy dog face, and when that failed miserably, he turned a defiant glare at her. The look was unmistakable; the child had inherited his father's deadly eyes, though without that chilling amber color, which she was thankful for; the color was more like her own but slightly darker. Still, she simply gazed back, trying her best to look irrevocably unyielding. After a few moments, Kenji grew tired of trying to stare her down and sank his teeth into the tender part of her hand. Kaoru let go with a yelp, and Kenji took the opportunity to run; he was out the gate and down the road almost before she realized what was going on.  
  
Helplessly, she turned to her husband, who had watched the entire interaction from where he leaned against one of the beams of the porch, his face unreadable.  
  
"Well?" she said hotly. "Go get him! It's all your fault, anyhow."  
  
"Yes dear," he replied docilely. "I expect I'll be repaid for my efforts?"  
  
"Of course," she purred. "I suppose I will spare you from being viciously beaten by the majority of the city when they found out that the 'freak child' is at it again."  
  
Blinking once, Battousai smiled at her and then ambled down the road after his strayed son. Kaoru sat down heavily, pressing a hand to her head. She was very much afraid of the potential that her child had. Hopefully now that his father was home, he would be taught some manners.  
  
How long had it been? Battousai had come home three weeks ago from Europe, where he'd been hiding since he left America shortly after Kenji was born. Kaoru and the baby had been left to fend for themselves in the outskirts of New York City for nearly five years. It was understandable, she knew that they had been in danger when they were together, but it hadn't made the separation any less painful. Not to mention the fact that Kenji had spent the first five years of his life fatherless, and was more like his father than she could handle.   
  
The child was quick, and had a temper that Kaoru was loath to put up with. There were several places that they were no longer allowed to enter because of the boy's horrific behavior that, no matter what method she used, she just couldn't seem to control.   
  
It wasn't that he didn't love his mother, because she could tell that he did, but the fact seemed to be that he couldn't tell right from wrong, and didn't terribly care to learn. That scared Kaoru, because it was so like Battousai that she began to worry that the boy would turn out a killer. Not only that, she would be helpless to stop him. It was his father that would have to deal with him now, because she was at her wits' end as it was, and Kenji was growing worse by the day.  
  
"Got him," she heard, and looked up to see Battousai pushing open the gate, Kenji tossed over his shoulder easily. The child was beating his father's back with his little fists, but the man seemed to take no notice.  
  
The sight was enough to make Kaoru smile, even after the harrowing day she'd had. This was how life was supposed to be. All three of them. Battousai set Kenji down at his mother's feet, and kept him from running off again by taking hold of the child's ear.  
  
"Now listen, son," he began patiently. "Running away is going to do nothing but make your mother angry. And when she's angry with you, she's angry with me, too. And she's scary when she's mad." He made a face and Kenji giggled.  
  
Kaoru lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing.   
  
"No more escape attempts?" Battousai questioned.  
  
"No, father," Kenji chirped earnestly. "No more. I promise."  
  
"Good. Now, go along and go to your room. You're not going to get off that easily."  
  
The boy scampered up the porch and into the house. Kaoru could hear him thundering down the hall into his room. She stared at Battousai in amazement.  
  
"In five years I haven't been able to teach him to respect me, and you've been here all of three weeks, and you're already getting sincere promises out of him." She flopped down on her back in defeat.  
  
Battousai sat at her side, shifting to brace his body over hers, rubbing his nose against hers affectionately. "Don't worry, as soon as the novelty wears off, I'm sure he'll disregard me too."  
  
"I hope not," Kaoru sighed, reaching up to tug at Battousai's hair. "What I would do without your help, I don't know. He's out of control."  
  
"He needs discipline in his life," Battousai countered. "He's too smart for his own good, but I can see a lot of potential in him."  
  
That was the problem, Kaoru thought with a frown. "What do you plan to do?"  
  
"I plan to teach him Hiten Mitsurugi."  
  
"Do you think that's wise?"  
  
"It will teach him self control."  
  
"It will also teach him to kill."  
  
"What if that's what he was meant to do?"  
  
Kaoru closed her eyes and refused to answer. She'd killed before, because of Battousai, and she'd killed again (Battousai didn't know yet, and she was almost afraid to tell him), but only because she'd had to. Did she want her son to be a murderer? Did she have a choice? His father was still a hitokiri, of course, but he was a rather special case.   
  
"I shouldn't have left you for so long," Battousai whispered, his lips brushing against her cheek.  
  
"You had no choice," she murmured.  
  
"I missed you too much." He bent his head down to nip at her earlobe and then, finally, pressed his lips to hers. She returned his kiss eagerly, but when his hands began to roam, she shoved him away.  
  
"Not out here," she admonished.   
  
Battousai gave her a pathetic look. "You've made me wait for so long."  
  
"Not out here," she repeated. "And Kenji likes to come in my... our... room without knocking."  
  
"Then lock the damn door!"  
  
Kaoru smiled at him and took his hand in hers. "Tomorrow we will find someone to care for him, and you can do whatever you want with me for the entire day."  
  
Battousai's eyes lit up, and Kaoru laughed. He was like a child on Christmas morning.   
  
"Go find something to keep you occupied," she said.  
  
"Tonight, then," he replied, "I am going to start training our son."

* * *

Kaoru watched as Battousai showed Kenji how to hold the sword; the man refused to let his son learn with a bokken or anything less than a katana. That put Kaoru on edge, because the child was not much more than five years old, and could hardly be expected to be able to handle the weight and length of a katana without some sort of mishap. At this rate, she would die of heart complications before she had her thirtieth birthday.  
  
Surprisingly, Kenji was doing just fine, if not better than that. For being little more than an infant, Kaoru could see from across the yard his intense concentration and desire for perfection. She wasn't sure how to react to that, whether to be pleased or frightened. As for Battousai, he was clearly pleased.   
  
Somehow Kaoru suspected that Battousai had hardly anticipated coming home at long last to a half-wild five year old that was far too wise and mature for his young age. She had always supposed, and it was no different now, that he acted older than he was because of what he was. Exactly he was, of course, she wasn't entirely sure. If she used mathematical terms, it made sense that he was three-fourths mortal. But when she stopped to think about it, Battousai was semi-mortal, not half-mortal, and that made a difference. She dropped her head in her hands with a moan; all this thinking was giving her a headache. It wasn't always this hard for her to think about things; indeed, she used to contemplate many deep and meaningful issues, especially after she'd met Battousai, but Kenji had worn her down, and she often got little sleep during the nights. Maybe with Battousai home, that would change.  
  
"Good!" Battousai's words drifted to her ears, and she smiled in spite of herself. "I think that's enough for today. Now go on, get to bed."  
  
Kenji followed his father's every instruction, pausing to jump on his mother and hug her tightly. Kaoru winced at first due to the pain the jolt caused her head, but wrapped her arms around her son and kissed him on the cheek. She pulled away and rumpled his hair affectionately.  
  
"You heard your father, it's bedtime." She smiled at him as he shuffled into the house and toward his room, reluctant to be sentenced to sleep after such an exciting day. Kaoru wasn't sure whom it had been more exciting for, the child or his parents, at least one of which would love to sleep at that moment.  
  
"You look tired, love," Battousai said as he settled himself next to her. "Too tired. Are you coming down with something?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe," Kaoru admitted. "I'm not as young as I used to be," she added.  
  
Battousai scoffed, though she thought he had no right to, being what he was. "Twenty-three is not very old, darling." He looked at her with a completely serious expression. "I'd say you have at least another year before your hair starts greying and you begin to get wrinkles."  
  
They stared at each other for a moment before Kaoru began to laugh. His sense of humor had matured since she'd first met him, mostly in the fact that he actually had one. After spending two years with her, she'd practically forced him to see some of the light in life and that not all humor had to be cynical.   
  
"Why don't you get to bed, too?" Battousai commanded more than asked.   
  
"But there's still so much to do," she argued.  
  
"I'll take care of it."  
  
"But-"  
  
"I'll take care of it," he reiterated. "You need to sleep. After all, tomorrow's a big day." He grinned at her, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Now go, before I change my mind and decide to take you here and now."  
  
That was enough to motivate Kaoru to get up and go into the house. Battousai sat staring out at the setting sun, thinking about the life that he had now. He quickly concluded that life had been far too kind to him, but that he missed the year he'd spent with Kaoru, running around Japan and then America. The sense of irresponsibility and the lack of need to change that was sorely missed by the side of him that was reckless. Yes, he loved Kaoru, and loved his son, but part of him wanted to be out traveling again. He was a wanderer, pure and simple. The boy would grow up fast, though, perhaps too fast, and he would then have his chance to be free again. Kaoru, of course, would come with him, and he could go back to his life of careless freedom.   
  
Then there was the fact that it was much harder to find anyone here to employ him. He had bought Kaoru a nice house in a nice neighborhood, which made it difficult for him to find the type of people he typically dealt with. It was a good distance from the shadier parts of town, and he was beginning to think that perhaps they would have to move.  
  
Everything would have to take place in its due time, though. For the moment, he had tomorrow to look forward to, and he could spend the entire night with his lover tucked in his embrace. Life was too kind to him, he decided. Something had to go wrong, and soon, because things did not work like this for him.

* * *

A/N: Yay. We have started another fun-filled odyssey with my mentally fucked up characters. I'm excited. I don't have any clue where I want to go with this story, but I guess I'll figure it out. Much thanks to bloodofinnocence, who hounded me until I actually started writing this fic. Unfortunately, I've become extremely lazy and tired this summer, more so than usual, though I'm not sure why (it may be the short hours of sleep I get because I go to bed at four in the morning...), so I don't know how often updates will be coming. I'm not feeling very inspired to do anything besides watch reruns of old sitcoms lately. It's pathetic really... I sit around and eat, watch TV, and every so often go out and party, and that's about it. Summer school just completely sucked me dry, I am dead tired. Don't expect frequent updates, though I'll try my best. Ja ne!


	2. The Devil Has My Ear Today

**Etched In Black Ink**

MysticShadowWanderer  
  
Disclaimer: It's not supposed to hurt this much... But it can never feel the same again... (If anyone knows the name of that song and the band who sings it, let me know, because I don't, but I heard the lyrics and loved them. It's driving me nuts)

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Chapter Two: The Devil Has My Ear Today 

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"Be good now, Kenji," Kaoru said, kneeling to look her son in the eyes. Battousai stood behind her, nodding in silent agreement, his cold eyes turned on the boy. "Don't do anything that you think I would tell you not to do. And I mean it."  
  
"Yes Momma," the child mumbled, kicking at the ground. He didn't like the neighbors much, they were terribly boring to him. Not to mention the fact that they always looked at him and his mother somewhat strangely. They appeared not to even dare glance at his father.  
  
It was an odd thing that he'd taken so readily to calling Battousai his father. Most children who had grown up for the first five years of their life without any father figure would be a bit wary to give the title to anyone, but Kenji had called Battousai 'Father' from the moment Kaoru had told him who the redheaded man was. It seemed right to the child.  
  
"I don't like those people," Kaoru muttered as she walked away arm-in-arm with Battousai. He looked sharply at his wife.  
  
"Then why, pray tell, did you leave our son with them?"  
  
She sighed. "They aren't bad people, and I know they're trustworthy, but every so often I feel like they're staring at me. Still, they're better than any of the other neighbors. It's not so easy to get along here. People treat us differently."  
  
Battousai frowned at that. He knew that Kaoru was intelligent enough to realize why she got strange looks from the people that lived nearby, and he also knew that she knew that it was unavoidable. After all, they were dissimilar than everyone else, and Kaoru was still struggling with her English. He'd had enough time before he'd met her to perfect a multitude of languages, and she was smart enough to pick up quickly when he taught her, but it was difficult to learn a second language, especially one with so many nuances as English. He tightened his hold on her as they crossed the street to their own yard; thinking about all the trouble she'd had in his absence made him feel even more strongly possessive of her, though at a second moment's thought, he realized that perhaps he should have felt guilt. It seemed that, even with several years that had changed him, guilt was still an emotion that he was incapable of exhibiting. Some things never changed.  
  
Pulling open the gate, he gave her an over exaggerated bow and waited for her to pass before he followed her, slapping her backside when he caught up to her. Kaoru shrieked and jumped, caught off-guard by his sudden playfulness. He'd never been that way before. It seemed that five years could change a man, even one that wasn't entirely human. That made her stop and turn to stare at him.  
  
"What?" He raised one eyebrow and awaited her question.  
  
"Just how many women were you with when I wasn't there for five years?"  
  
Battousai blinked and fumbled for words. After all they'd been through, she didn't trust him? The very thought hurt more than anything he'd ever felt in all his long years, more than the death of his adoptive mother, more than the pain they'd shared when they took blades to each other's skin, more than the time she felt guilty because she killed, more than the time he'd almost lost her during that long voyage to America.  
  
"There were none, love," he said resolutely. "There were none and will be none, ever again."  
  
Kaoru searched his eyes with hers, and was finally satisfied with his answer. "You must have been so lonely..." she said in a low, seductive tone. "So hungry..."  
  
Battousai smirked and opened the front door for her. "I was likely to starve to death," he whispered in her ear as she passed.  
  
Slamming the door behind him, he spun her around and took her in his arms. She grinned up at him before he captured her lips with his in a fiercely possessive kiss. Her knees weakened at the intensity and passion he poured into the embrace, and she realized just how much she'd missed him. Being without him for five years had been so difficult, and she'd struggled to survive without his strong arms there to catch her when she fell. All that had kept her going was the knowledge that one day he would return, that and their mischievous son.  
  
"I need you so badly," she groaned as they broke apart. "Please."  
  
"Hush, darling," Battousai said softly. "I know... I know..."  
  
They made their way quickly to their bedroom and Battousai gently eased Kaoru to the bed, murmuring 'slowly... don't rush.' Her lips burned at the side of his neck as she covered any skin she could reach with loving kisses. Pressing his body firmly against her, he pinned her down and wrapped her in a firm embrace. Her small hands came up to stroke his neck, his shoulders, his chest, and he leaned back to allow her more access. Eagerly, she accepted what he offered, and tugged at his gi, which he still insisted upon wearing, until it came off. Her eyes lit up as she could drag her nails down his back and, after loosening the strings, delve her hands into his hakama to run her fingertips up the backs of his thighs. He groaned and bit her ear gently in response before blowing into it.  
  
"You naughty thing," he chuckled huskily. "You still know how to drive me crazy."  
  
Before she could respond, their frantic motions were stopped by the sound of someone outside screaming extremely loudly. They both froze, then sat up, listening intently. Kaoru's eyes widened as the keening shriek continued, high-pitched and panicked. Battousai exchanged a glance with her and, before she could say anything, grabbed his gi and shrugged into it, adjusting his clothing while she fixed hers. He nodded to the question in her eyes; the scream was coming from across the street, from the house they'd left Kenji at. All at once, their trance-like state was broken, and they were dashing down the hall, heading for the scene of the commotion. Battousai's hand was already reaching for his katana, and Kaoru put a palm to her hip to reassure herself that her hidden dagger was still there.  
  
Battousai didn't take the time to open the gate, instead he jumped over it, hauling Kaoru with him, which was a momentarily frightening experience. They practically flew across the street and through the open gate of the neighbors' yard. Standing there on the front porch, sucking a bloodied thumb, was their young, redheaded son. Kaoru yelped in shock and relief and swept the child into her arms as soon as she reached him, hugging him tightly to her.  
  
"Are you alright, Kenji-chan?" she asked, near-frantically.  
  
"Yes, momma, I'm fine," he replied, sounding somewhat bored.  
  
While Kaoru fussed over their son, Battousai was surveying the situation. Nothing looked amiss, but he could still hear that terrible, blood-curdling scream that refused to cease. It was coming from within the house, but he hesitated to step through the door.  
  
"Kenji," he said, turning deadly serious eyes on his son, "what happened here today?"  
  
Kenji stared his father straight in the eyes and shrugged, resuming his thumb-sucking. It was then that Battousai glanced at the child's small, chubby hands. The palms were coated in blood. Kaoru followed his line of sight, and gasped, almost dropping Kenji when she realized what that meant. Battousai opened his mouth to interrogate the boy, but never got the chance.  
  
"You! YOU!" A distraught woman shouted at them as she ran out of the house, her hair wild from being pulled on and her face marred by tears that still flowed. "You two are responsible! You and that... that... that devil child! I could kill you now! How could... Why... You are all damned to Hell!"  
  
With those words, she ran back into the house, and they could hear a great shuffling noise, like she was frantically looking for something. Battousai had the dreadful suspicion that he knew what that thing was. The confirmation came when the woman came tearing out into the yard, looking as if she were possessed by demonic forces, and, with violently shaking hands, pointed a rifle in their direction. Kaoru turned her back quickly, shielding Kenji.  
  
"Turn around, woman, and let that child be given what he deserves! That child that is the spawn of Satan! That cold-blooded murderer!"  
  
Battousai stepped forward, planting his body firmly in front of Kaoru's exposed back.  
  
"There shall be none of that," he said, his tone low and commanding. "If you hurt my son or my wife in any way, I refuse to take responsibility for my actions."  
  
"So it was you! It was you that fathered that... that... monstrosity! That demon! You deserve death more than anyone in the world!"  
  
Though Battousai could hardly believe that she could get her trembling finger on the trigger, the woman took aim, poorly, and fired at him. He blocked the bullet with his katana, and then swept down on the woman, who suddenly thought she was looking at Satan himself. Her scream of horror was cut off as she fell to the ground and wallowed in a pool of her own blood. Battousai looked on indifferently, and Kaoru covered Kenji's eyes with her hand.  
  
"Momma," he whined. "I want to see!"  
  
Kaoru simply stared at him in shock. This was her son? So much like his father, but yet... so entirely different. There was something in him that frightened her so much that when Battousai had sheathed his katana, she handed Kenji to him.  
  
"We have to leave," Battousai said, breaking the cold silence. "We have to get out of the state."  
  
"First the man that used to live next door, then this woman's husband, than the woman," Kaoru said, hanging her head limply. "We've all committed the same sin."  
  
Battousai's eyebrows raised as he regarded her. "You killed again?"  
  
"Yes," she whispered. "I had to."  
  
He simply turned on his heel and walked out of the yard, crossed the street, kicked their own gate in, and stalked into their house. Kaoru followed meekly. Kenji was soon locked in his room, for lack of anything better to think of to do with him.  
  
"What do we do?" Kaoru asked, flopping down in a kitchen chair and dropping her head in her hands.  
  
"Like I said, we leave," Battousai replied. "We have to be gone by sunrise tomorrow. Now..." He paused briefly, "what is this about you killing again?"  
  
"The man next door... he used to stare at me. I ignored it until he started to talk to me, say lewd things. I tried to tell people, but they refused to believe me. I didn't mean to kill him... it's just... he came in our house once, pinned me down... I had no choice..."  
  
Battousai held her shaking body in his arms, stroking her head as she cried. She cried for her son, for her husband, for herself, for everything that had gone so wrong just when she thought that things might be able to be right again.  
  
"Sh, sweetling," he consoled as he lifted her out of the chair and took the seat himself, cradling her gently in his arms. "We'll find a way out of this. We always do. Think of how many times things were awry in the past, but we fixed it. We can start over."  
  
"But it's so much to put Kenji through," Kaoru mumbled through her tears. "He's so young."  
  
"He just grew up today," Battousai reminded her. "He has to learn, now more than ever, that actions have consequences. He has to finish his training."  
  
That was the last thing that Kaoru wanted to hear, and she voiced her concerns.  
  
"Yes, it is a killing technique, but it also teaches self-control. It was also created to protect the innocent..." he trailed off there, knowing that he had misused the technique, and knowing that Kaoru would be upset with that.  
  
"Do you think it will help?"  
  
"I hope so."

* * *

A/N: Wow. Little kids are more fun when they kill people! :cannot STAND small children: Alright, alright, I'm sorry, but I can't help but make the kid act older than his age and slightly nuts, because, well, I hate little kids, and plus, the kid's not a normal human, so there. Besides, it's my story, so there! As a note, he's not a cold-blooded killer, and he's not a psychopathic killer, he's just a little kid that does what instinct tells him and doesn't yet know how to control himself. He's not evil, just young. Oh, and by the way, the chapter title is a line from A Perfect Circle's "Weak and Powerless." 


	3. Going Away

**Etched In Black Ink**

MysticShadowWanderer  
  
Disclaimer: I wanted to name this chapter "On The Road Again," but I thought better of it. :wanders away whistling Willie Nelson songs:

* * *

Chapter Three: Going Away

* * *

Kenji sulked from his position on Battousai's back; he didn't see why he had to leave his home and all of his toys. His mother had only allowed his to bring a precious few, and she'd had to drag him kicking and screaming from the house. He didn't want to leave, and he, in his anger, tightened his hold around his father's neck, unconsciously trying to choke the man. Battousai glanced back quickly, scowling furiously.  
  
"Stop that, Kenji." There was no force to his tone, it was soft even. But it was what was behind the words that made the child loosen his grip. Even a five-year-old could hear the quiet threat behind the calm command.  
  
"Yes Father," he whispered, turning his eyes downward.  
  
Kaoru watched the exchange with sorrowful eyes. Battousai had just threatened his son. And while it was effective, it pained her that the only way to control the child was force. Just what had she gotten herself into? The life she led now, while it was certainly more adventurous than her quiet dojo life, was full of danger and illegal activities. And she hated to kill, despised it with every fiber of her being. But the man had been so much bigger than her, so much stronger... And she couldn't allow herself to just lie there and be violated. If only Battousai had been around to stay the man's original interest, then maybe things would have turned out better. Fate could be so cruel to them.  
  
With all her heart she loved her son, but a part of her, the part that was hidden but was slowly gaining more attention, was afraid of him. The boy had already proved that he had inherited his father's lust for blood and love of the thrill of killing, though he would give them no details about the act. She shared a glance with Battousai at that moment and he nodded; this was far enough for today.  
  
Trekking a short distance off the road and into a cornfield, Battousai set his son down in the dirt. He frowned as he thought of how much more convenient a forest would be, and how he enjoyed the company of the trees much better than the company of stalks of corn. Kaoru reached into her bag and pulled out a few slices of bread to tide the child over. She looked at Battousai pointedly and he sighed. They would have to find somewhere to stay soon, because Kenji couldn't live off bread alone. When they used to travel together hunger could be ignored, but a child wouldn't understand that. A slow look of recognition crept onto Battousai's face. Or wouldn't he understand?  
  
"Kenji," he said quietly. The boy looked up, ceasing his careful nibbling at the piece of bread. "Do you understand what you did?" The redheaded child nodded, his face blank as he stared at his father. "Do you realize that this means that you and your mother and I have to get out of here quickly?" Another nod. "If you are old enough to commit acts like you did, then you are old enough to accept the consequences." At that, Kenji nodded again, but looked slightly confused. "That means that we're not going to have much to eat for a few weeks. Your mother and I will do whatever we can, but we have to travel light. So when you get hungry, you have to put up with that just like we do, just like an adult. When you get really hungry, you can say something, but I expect you not to whine. Is that clear, Kenji?"  
  
"Yes Father," he said solemnly. "I will be good. I'll be grown up."  
  
Battousai smiled and ruffled his son's hair before sitting down and motioning for Kaoru to sit next to him. She spread out her old, tattered blanket out on the ground and, as Kenji finished eating his bread slices, went about tucking him in so that he could take a nap. Despite all the maturity the child had, he was still only five-years-old and still needed a daily nap. She shuddered to think of how horrendously he could act if he didn't get some sleep. He smiled at his mother as he snuggled into the warm, albeit slightly dirty, blanket and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.  
  
"Ah, the easy sleep of the innocent," Battousai mused. Kaoru snorted and he raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"He's not all that innocent."  
  
"Compared to me? And you?"  
  
"Well... yes... But still."  
  
Battousai sighed and was forced to agree with her. Leaning against his side, Kaoru toyed with a stick, drawing patterns into the dirt absently. She hated the fact that he'd brought up her sins; she hated to think about the times she'd killed. All that kept her from going insane was the knowledge that both times she'd had no choice. Still, she liked to forget, even though she knew that too was wrong. One cannot simply forget the mistakes of the past. They had to learn.

* * *

"I don't know what to do, love," Battousai said quietly, raking a hand through his tangling, dusty bangs. "I honestly don't know this time."  
  
It frightened Kaoru that he was telling her this, because usually he would have kept it to himself and acted confidently. No, that wasn't true. Usually he would have known what to do. But fatherhood was new to him, and she was certain that it was different than anything he'd ventured to try thus far in his long life. Nothing in the world could have taught him what this would be like. She knew that because she felt the same way.  
  
"Just teach him," Kaoru replied in a weary voice, days on the road already taking their toll on her body, which had been tired before they even started. "He killed because he doesn't know right from wrong, and he has to be taught."  
  
Battousai stopped dead, a small cloud of dirt rising around his suddenly halted feet. He turned slowly to stare at her incredulously. The look in his eyes was half shock and half fury. Kenji scampered away from his mother's hold to sit at the side of the road, aware that this was something that he would rather not be in the middle of. For a five-year-old, he was quite observant.  
  
"And you think I'm the person who can teach him this moral code of yours?" Battousai's voice was dangerously low. "You think I'm going to stop him from killing? You know what I am, what I've always been."  
  
"Yes, I know," Kaoru whispered. "But I also know the difference. The look in your eyes and the look in his... There IS a difference, and you're the only one who could possibly bring him back under that control. There is a fine line between assassin and cold-blooded murderer!"  
  
"I AM a cold-blooded murderer, Kaoru!" he shouted. "I always have been! You know that!"  
  
On the roadside, Kenji scowled, not liking the fact that they were talking about him like he wasn't even there to hear them. On the other hand, this was the first he'd heard about what his father did, and he hadn't known that he was an assassin. It was fascinating to a young child that had already tasted the thrill of taking another's life.  
  
"Your blood never ran so cold as you liked to think," Kaoru countered. "You were going to kill me, remember? And you couldn't do it. You were soft at heart."  
  
"Untrue," Battousai hissed. "I didn't kill you because I was fated to be with you. If I hadn't been, you would have died long ago."  
  
"There were many people that you could have killed along the way, then," she said. "Why didn't you kill them?"  
  
"Place, timing, everything made it impossible. I don't just go about hacking down random passers-by, there's an art to it."  
  
"You've just proven my point. You only kill when you have to. Just because you don't regret it like I do doesn't mean that you're cold-blooded. It just means that our outlooks are different. You are not a cold-blooded killer, just a killer."  
  
Battousai opened his mouth to reply, but found that he'd lost. His eyes widened as he realized what had just happened. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he should still be angry, because they'd gotten into another argument, but he found himself too stunned to be mad. Instead of shouting like he'd prepared to, he started to chuckle. Kaoru eyed his cautiously, as if unsure whether he'd finally lost his mind or not. Laughing, he swept her into his arms and pressed her body to his, bending his head for a passionate kiss.  
  
"Gods I love you," he whispered against her lips.  
  
He frowned in confusion when she pushed him away from her. She glanced at Kenji briefly and he groaned when he understood her train of thought. The child was sitting there staring at them, his deep blue eyes wide in shock. If Kenji hadn't been there, Battousai would have dragged Kaoru off into a cornfield and fulfilled his intentions until she could no longer protest. This could prove to be quite interesting along the way, he thought. If 'interesting' was the right adjective. 'Painful' was, perhaps, the better choice.

* * *

A/N: Another short chapter. Damn. I know. But I've got some serious writer's block with this story, and with all the problems I'm having right now, I figured this was better than nothing. It'll probably be a lot of short but somewhat frequently posted chapters from now on. Although school does start up again soon... Anyhow, there were a lot of questions from the last chapter, so I've decided to write up some individual review replies. Yay! If I didn't reply to your review, you probably didn't ask a question. I read them all, of course, and I appreciate all of them, but I just don't have the time to respond to every single one. If I missed you... well... sorry. But thanks for reviewing :grin:  
  
fallen-angel121: Sevendust, "Honesty." Sevendust, "Honesty." Sevendust, "Honesty." MUST REMEMBER! Thank you SO much, and I just have to say that I heard it again on my school's radio station and it rocked even more the second time. Sevendust is awesome... Anyhow, thank you thank you thank you. (Excellent taste in music, by the way :big grin:)  
  
ChibiKai02: Give me the damn cookies! This was a faster update, ne? I want cookies...  
  
kik-ting: Yup, Kenji killed someone, and yes, someone would have heard. But this is... uh... well... by now I've forgotten EXACTLY what year it was, so it's going to take them a bit of time to figure out who did it, and Battousai and gang are going to be long gone by then. Also, when you're in a situation like Kaoru was (rape is such an ugly word...), you never know how you're going to react. I know I would have killed him (then again, I'm evil like that), so I just sort of... went with that... "They say that you must learn to kill before you can feel safe."  
  
BabyKaoru-Sama: Here's the deal, at least for the moment -- Battousai doesn't age physically, and Kaoru ages as normal. I'm still working on the situation...  
  
anabell: Reminds you of The Bad Seed, ne? Anyhow... I will be revealing how and with what he killed the guy soon!  
  
To everyone who had the same thought that "Hmm... it's not really believable that a little kid killed a person," I anticipated this response. Just keep in mind that he's not fully human, and he's an extremely mentally advanced little bastard (yeah... have I mentioned that I HATE kids?). And who's to say that a five-year-old couldn't kill someone in the real world? I have a five-year-old cousin that's nearly strangled a few people, so you let one near the kitchen knives, or fire pokers, or other random blunt objects, or like... blenders or psychic monkeys or something and you've got yourself a real problem on your hands. Especially with those psychic monkeys. Gotta watch out for them. So, in conclusion... BEWARE THE PSYCHIC MONKEYS!


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